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A generation ago, then-Gov. Jerry Brown's conscientious stand against the death penalty prompted a revolt in the Legislature and eventually spurred voters to throw out his appointee as chief justice of the California Supreme Court. Now the 70-year-old attorney general and would-be 2010 gubernatorial candidate is stirring a new storm by his legal challenge to voters' approval of a measure banning gay marriage in California. It's a move that could pay political dividends in a June 2010 Democratic primary against another likely gubernatorial candidate, San Francisco mayor and gay marriage champion Gavin Newsom. After initially indicating his office would defend...

December 23, 2008, 4:00 a.m. Gross Dereliction of DutyBy the Editors As attorney general of California, Jerry Brown has a duty to defend the state and its laws in court. That duty requires him to offer the best grounds in defense of any law that may reasonably be defended. In a brief he filed last Friday in the case challenging Proposition 8 — the ballot measure that amended California’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage — Brown grossly violated that duty. On Election Day, California voters approved Proposition 8. Opponents of Proposition 8 then rushed to court to invalidate it...

Attorney General Jerry Brown's legal challenge to California's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage marks the first time that the state's top lawyer has refused to defend a newly enacted ballot measure since 1964 - another epic discrimination case that eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In November 1964, an overwhelming 65 percent majority of the state's voters approved Proposition 14, a constitutional amendment that overturned a fair-housing law and allowed racial discrimination in property sales and rentals.Attorney General Thomas Lynch - newly appointed to succeed Stanley Mosk, a Prop. 14 opponent who had just been named to the state Supreme...

It was an early scene from The Matrix, but even Keanu Reeves began to figure out things had just gotten really weird. He discusses said predicament with his wasted buddy, Choi. Neo:You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming? Choi: All the time. It's called mescaline, it's the only way to fly. Wikipedia describes Mescaline as a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid that is used to enhance transcendental practices. Apparently, serving as Attorney General, in The Great State of California, offers the office holder opportunities to experience transcendence; even without the pharmaceutical props. At...

Calif. AG Urges Court to Void Gay Marriage Ban SAN FRANCISCO – The California attorney general has changed his position on the state's new same-sex marriage ban and is now urging the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8. In a dramatic reversal, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is itself unconstitutional because it deprives a minority group of a fundamental right. Earlier, Brown had said he would defend the ballot measure against legal challenges from gay marriage supporters. But Brown...

California’s Rush To Judgment on Same Sex Marriage December 20th, 2008 By JERRY REMMERS Only in California can the bizarre become the norm. In a spate of a few hours Friday afternoon, briefs were filed with the state Supreme Court challenging, supporting and extending a ban on same sex marriages. Backers of Proposition 8, the initiative that bans same sex marriage, petitioned to nullify the 18,000 marriages conducted after the high court voted 4-3 approving such nuptials. State Attorney General Jerry Brown countered with a brief indicating he could not support the proposition because “the amendment process cannot be used...

SAN FRANCISCO - California's attorney general has changed his position on the state's new same-sex marriage ban and is now joining forces with homosexual activists to overturn the results of Proposition 8. In a dramatic reversal, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is itself unconstitutional because it deprives a minority group of a fundamental right. Earlier, Brown had said he would defend the ballot measure against legal challenges from gay marriage supporters. But Brown said he reached a different conclusion "upon...

SAN FRANCISCO — In a sharp rebuke to supporters of a contested state ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage, the California attorney general said Friday that the measure was constitutionally indefensible and should be overturned. The attorney general, Jerry Brown, had previously hinted of his opposition to the measure, Proposition 8, but made his legal opinion concrete on Friday in a brief to the California Supreme Court, which is reviewing the measure. “Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification,” Mr. Brown said in a statement. The attorney...

In a surprise move, the state attorney general has asked the California Supreme Court to invalidate the gay marriage ban passed by voters last month.

SAN FRANCISCO -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown has changed his position with respect to the state's new same-sex marriage ban and is now urging the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8. Brown filed a brief Friday saying the measure, which amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman, is itself unconstitutional because it deprives gay couples of a fundamental right.

Attorney General Jerry Brown made noises like a 19th-century states' rights zealot last week in opposing a looming federal court order requiring the state to spend up to $8 billion to improve health care in its much-overcrowded prison system. As Brown depicted it in his appellate filing opposing the order obtained by federal receiver Clark Kelso, the order violates a federal law barring courts from ordering states to build new prisons as well as constitutional guarantees of state sovereignty. "In ordering the state to fund the receiver's massive prison construction program, the district court clearly violated federal law, and its...

State Attorney General Jerry Brown today urged the California Supreme Court to review legal challenges to Proposition 8, but steered clear of taking a position on the gay marriage ban measure approved by voters. In a written responses to three lawsuits seeking to overturn the initiative, Brown's office said the state's highest court should allow the measure to remain in effect during the review period because of the confusion that a stay of the measure would cause. "Due to the potential uncertainty that may be caused in important legal relationships by a temporary stay, the public interest would be better...

A massive $8.4 billion homeowner rescue plan announced Monday by the Bank of America will provide some relief for an estimated 125,000 Californians who are having trouble making payments on sub-prime loans and other risky mortgages from Countrywide Home Loans. Bank of America bought Countrywide for $4 billion July 1 after the Calabasas-based home loan giant, among the largest sub-prime lenders in the state, collapsed under the weight of mounting defaults and foreclosures. The bank's "Home Ownership Retention Program for Countrywide Customers'' was devised by California and 10 other states to settle predatory lending lawsuits filed against Countrywide. The plan...

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has ordered a crackdown on medical pot clubs that are selling the drug for big profits. The move puts the state a bit more in line with the feds in dealing with the explosion of questionable marijuana dispensaries since the passage of Proposition 215 more than a decade ago.The first target was Today's Health Care club in Northridge (Los Angeles County), which agents from the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement raided over the weekend. The club owner and an alleged middleman were booked on drug-dealing charges.Brown said Tuesday he would "not be surprised" to see...

NEW YORK -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer won't face a California investigation into whether he helped fuel IndyMac Bancorp Inc.'s collapse by expressing concerns about the mortgage lender's soundness. The California Attorney General's office said in a letter Thursday that there was "insufficient evidence" to investigate Sen. Schumer.

A ballot label that declares Proposition 8 "eliminates (the) right of same-sex couples to marry" will remain intact after a Sacramento County judge today dismissed a challenge by supporters of the measure. Sponsors of the Nov. 4 ballot measure had argued that Attorney General Jerry Brown's formal title and summary of the measure were prejudicial. But Sacramento County Judge Timothy Frawley disagreed that Brown acted in favor of opponents of the measure when he changed the ballot title -- "Limit on Marriage" -- that was on petitions circulated last year to qualify the ballot measure. "Petitioner has failed to explain...

. . . Palace plots: No sooner did San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announce he was forming an exploratory committee for governor than state Attorney General Jerry Brown made a move of his own - one that's likely to get under Newsom's skin. Reliable sources tell us that Brown has approached San Francisco PR consultant Alex Tourk to help launch his own campaign for governor, and the two were in serious talks this past week. Tourk, who once headed Newsom's Project Homeless Connect program, had a falling-out with his boss when he found out the mayor had slept with Tourk's...

June 20, 2008Berkeley, California This week the global edition of the New York Times ran an article titled "Michelle Obama to get subtle makeover." This in itself would normally not be a big deal, but it just so happens the consultant brought in to do this makeover is an old friend of mine, (Fabulous) Frankee Felaesho! I call Frankee (Fab) to get the inside poop on his Obama overhaul.According to Fab, there were several areas the campaign staff wanted to address in response to negative public perceptions. He faxed me his Makeover Action Plan (MAP): Perception: Michelle Obama hates white peopleRemedy: Instruct Michelle to (1) start referring to...

May 15, 2008 Berkeley, California OK, Scooter's psychotic empathizing with John McCain has gotten totally out of hand. It's one thing to adopt the hairstyle or even mild mannerisms of somebody one admires, but Scooter's total metamorphosis into McCain by way of elaborate theatrical makeup, wardrobe, acting, and vocal inflections is beyond weird. Yesterday we went shopping at the mall, and while there Scooter probably signed over a hundred autographs as Senator McCain. Later at the urging of onlookers he even gave an impromptu speech from atop a table at the food court. After flashing some very realistic Vietnam...

. . . Full circle: He's won't say anything officially, but behind the scenes, Jerry Brown is definitely laying tracks for a return trip to his old job as governor of California. "I feel great," Brown told us this past week as he headed for the gym. "I'm in the zone."And indeed, in the weeks since the state Democratic Party convention in San Jose, where he publicly toyed with the idea of an unprecedented third term, the 70-year-old governor-turned-Oakland-mayor-turned-attorney general has been meeting with Democratic insiders, labor leaders and longtime supporters to go over what it would take to run...

State Attorney General Jerry Brown waxed nostalgic about his former days as governor on Saturday and strongly suggested that he might run again - just as soon as he is done suing President Bush over global warming. In a speech to more than 1,000 activists at a state Democratic Party convention, Brown, 69, hyped his current legal battle to uphold California's global warming fight and enforce tough auto emissions standards. "I've had to sue Bush about five times," he said, because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "is blocking the will of the people of California." He stirred speculation of another...

He hasn't decided on run for governor; Lockyer has the biggest account. California Attorney General Jerry Brown may well run for governor in 2010. But you wouldn't know it by his fundraising in 2007. In fact, he barely raised any campaign funds at all, collecting only eight donations all year. His campaign account, which had more than $800,000 left over from his 2006 run, earned more in interest than in new contributions, according to the annual campaign filings made public Thursday. He ended the year with $851,000 in the bank."There is no conclusion to be derived from that fact," Brown...

SACRAMENTO - Invoking executive privilege, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday refused to provide lawmakers with a full explanation of why it rejected California's greenhouse gas regulations. The EPA informed Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that many of the documents she had requested contained internal deliberations or attorney-client communications that would not be shared now with Congress. "EPA is concerned about the chilling effect that would occur if agency employees believed their frank and honest opinions and analysis expressed as part of assessing California's waiver request were to be disclosed in a broad setting," EPA's associate administrator Christopher P. Bliley wrote....

OAKLAND, Calif. - Nearly four decades after entering California politics, Jerry Brown has reinvented himself yet again, this time as a carbon-fighting attorney general. The former governor, presidential candidate and Oakland mayor has emerged as a major player in the national debate on global warming, less than a year after taking office as the state's top law enforcement official. Brown has used threats, petitions, negotiated deals and a series of lawsuits to pressure automakers, county governments and the Bush administration to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. "It is the most important environmental issue facing the state and the world, and that's why...

SACRAMENTO -- Attorney General Jerry Brown -- declaring instant victory on a tobacco suit Tuesday -- plans to file a complaint today demanding that U.S. regulators force airliners and other aircraft to spew lesser amounts of greenhouse gases. The attorney general's aides said Brown's main focus of fighting global warming, which has focused mostly on carbon dioxide emissions from cars and industry, would move skyward today when he files a complaint jointly with other states and environmental groups against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. Brown is scheduled to announce the petition he's filing with the EPA at Los...

Jerry Brown may have invented the so-called "canoe theory" of politics (paddle a little left, paddle a little right, end up in the center) but Arnold Schwarzenegger has probably come the closest to perfecting it. And this morning the two most recognizable faces in California government looked all the world like BFFs -- best (environmental) friends forever. The attorney general and the governor were there to announce the long-expected filing of a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for inaction on California's request to regulate auto emissions. For almost two years, the agency has been sitting on California's request...

When California Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued the six major auto manufacturers a year ago, claiming that they were liable for adverse consequences of global warming, it was widely seen as an election year stunt. Lockyer, who was being forced out of the attorney generalship by term limits and running for state treasurer, filed the suit just 48 days before the election but insisted that it was a serious effort to make automakers pay for producing cars that generated greenhouse gases that could damage California. Many others, however, questioned whether there was any legal basis in federal law for the...

San Francisco (AP) -- A federal judge on Monday tossed out a lawsuit filed by California that sought to hold the world's six largest automakers accountable for their contribution to global warming. In its lawsuit filed last year, California blamed the auto industry for millions of dollars it expects to spend on repairing damage from global-warming induced floods and other natural disasters. But District Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco handed California Attorney General Jerry Brown's environmental crusade a stinging rebuke when he ruled it was impossible to determine to what extent automakers are responsible for global-warming damages in California....

Do homosexual couples suffer any "constitutional injury" from being legally ineligible to obtain marriage licenses? California Attorney General Jerry Brown, in briefs filed with the state Supreme Court on Aug. 17, argues that marriage is a "constitutionally insignificant label" because, he says, same-sex domestic partners do not “lack” any benefit which would be supplied by legal marriage. Same-sex marriage advocate Geoff Kors of Equality California indicated to the Aug. 23 Bay Area Reporter that such objections are remarkably weak and obviously conflict with the state's stance in another court case. "The state and attorney general took the position in the...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Says Marriage Could be Eliminated in Future SACRAMENTO, August 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In legal briefs submitted to the California Supreme Court, which is considering whether to license "same-sex marriages" next year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown both stated that a future Legislature could abolish marriage and yank marriage rights from a married husband and wife. A group hoping to place a question on the 2008 ballot to defend traditional marriage suggests that the briefs are evidence of the urgent need for the ballot initiative. In the Governor's brief, filed by his team...

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown filed legal briefs saying the California Legislature can eliminate marriage rights and get rid of marriage. In legal briefs submitted to the California Supreme Court, which is considering whether to license "same-sex marriages" next year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown both stated that a future Legislature could abolish marriage and yank marriage rights from a married husband and wife. It was revealed today that Attorney General Jerry Brown [see PDF of AG Jerry Brown's 8/17 brief ] and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger [See PDF of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 8/17 brief ] said the...

Attorney general says state's biggest problem is global warming. In reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Jerry Brown says, the state "should go about it in a very deliberate way, but involving as many people as possible at every level or we're never going to get there." Riding high on a global warming action plan he wants to take statewide, California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Wednesday he's thinking about running for governor when the job opens up again in 2010. "The thought has certainly crossed my mind, but I haven't really come to any conclusion," Brown said over coffee in a...

California Attorney General Jerry Brown settled his global warming lawsuit Tuesday against San Bernardino County, working out an agreement on what had been a stumbling block to obtaining a deal on the state budget. Under the terms of the deal announced by Brown in a Los Angeles news conference, the fast-growing county in the heart of the Inland Empire of Southern California will amend its general plan within 30 months to include a greenhouse gas reduction policy. The process will include an inventory of all "known, or reasonably discoverable, sources of greenhouse gases" in the county. In addition, the county...

In San Francisco, even the state's top lawman is not immune to getting his car broken into - even when it's parked next to City Hall. Just ask Attorney General Jerry Brown, who had his official state car broken into while it was left briefly in front of the State Building at Civic Center. "Right across from City Hall, in plain view of the mayor's office," Brown said. "He could have seen it from his office window." Brown said he and his driver hadn't been in the building more than 10 minutes when they came back to find someone had...

California's top law officer -- Attorney General Jerry Brown -- has raised $86,500 since January to fight an election-year lawsuit accusing him of failing to qualify for the statewide office he now holds. According to state disclosure forms filed Monday, Brown tapped three wealthy business executives -- including the president of Whole Foods -- who gave a combined $45,000 to Brown's Public Integrity Legal Defense Fund. The remaining cash was raised from various interest groups such as dentists, correctional officers and the Indian tribe that owns Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln. Brown, a Democrat, is the latest politician to open...

State sues S.B. County over global warming Ryan Orr April 13, 2007 - 11:04PM SAN BERNARDINO — Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit Friday against the county of San Bernardino’s recently-updated general plan because it did not properly address global warming. The lawsuit came just two days after a similar lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the San Bernardino Audubon Society and the Sierra Club. Brown filed the lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act on the basis that San Bernardino County failed to evaluate and disclose the impending impacts of the plan on...

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Some public records of new state Attorney General Jerry Brown's eight years as Oakland mayor are missing and others were apparently improperly destroyed, raising questions about whether the state's top law-enforcement official has violated California's public records law. Two former Brown aides said they removed records from the office late last year. One of them, Gil Duran, said he consulted Michelle Abney, the public records coordinator in the city attorney's office, before doing so. But Abney's boss, Mark Morodomi, the assistant city attorney in charge of records access, said no permission was granted and no such conversation ever took place....

The Shill Media are offering up the usual pabulum about presidential contenders, disgorging reportage about the vapid and venal that's more soap opera than scoop. With mock surprise they speak of the presidential aspirations of Rudy, Lady Macbeth and Brokeback Obama, as they treat platitudes and political sloganeering as if they were less empty than the minds that regurgitate them. But amidst the din of this much-ado — about-nothing quest for copy, the media have missed — perhaps quite conveniently — the only truly scintillating story of the 2008 election. Radio talk show host Michael Savage is mulling a run...

Judge tosses suit against Jerry Brown Greg Lucas, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau Saturday, February 10, 2007 (02-10) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- A Superior Court judge tossed out a lawsuit Friday claiming Jerry Brown was not qualified to serve as state attorney general because he had not practiced law for all of the five years prior to his election in November. Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian rejected the lawsuit, saying that while Brown had chosen to let his membership in the State Bar of California be "inactive" from 1997 through April 2003, he was still eligible to practice law and had been...

SACRAMENTO - California Attorney General Jerry Brown is asking the six largest U.S. and Japanese automakers to settle a lawsuit in which the state seeks millions of dollars in damages caused by vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases. Brown scheduled a news conference Thursday in San Francisco to release details. On Wednesday, he sent a letter to attorneys representing the automakers, asking to meet personally with the chief executives of General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Nissan."As I review the litigation and learn more about the disputes, I am struck by the need for California and the automakers to work...

Attorney General-elect Jerry Brown said Wednesday that he will appoint his wife, Anne Gust, as his unpaid special counsel, giving her a "broad mandate" in a new post that will be part of a significant reorganization of the state attorney general's office. "It will be a very important and high-level role very close to the policy and administrative processes," said Brown, who was in Washington, D.C., to attend House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi's inauguration. "It is a broad title and she certainly will have a broad mandate because her experience is very broad." This will not be the first time Brown...

December 8, 2006 San Diego, California There was recently an incident that illuminated the inhumane treatment of innocent creatures at one of the country's leading theme parks, Sea World. It seems that a captive killer whale at the San Diego park named "Kasatka" had pulled one of its trainers underwater during a performance in an apparent cry for help. It must also be noted that Kasatka had bitten other trainers before, further pointing to the obvious effects of abusive treatment suffered by the fish/mammal/whatever-it-is. Scooter and I knew we had to help this poor thing before it went crazy and...

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Gunshots ring out in a neighborhood, and law enforcement's first move is to pull up a computer screen to see whether the sound came from areas equipped with electronic devices that track the source of gunfire. Then a public safety employee keys up another monitor and uses Global Positioning System technology to identify the locations of the city's worst-known violent offenders -- to determine whether any of them are in the spot where the shots were fired. Such a brave new world is coming to Oakland -- and it seems likely that it will become a reality elsewhere in California...

California Attorney General-Elect Jerry Brown said yesterday he is looking forward to working with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to create regulations for the enforcement of California’s new Global Warming legislation. Brown, who defeated state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, by a decisive margin in Tuesday’s election, told the MetNews he wants regulations that are “practical, defendable and effective.” Noting that the California Department of Justice--which the attorney general heads--has sent six officers to Oakland to help with its crime problem Brown said he is also looking forward to expanding the program to help other cities in need. Poochigian focused on Oakland crime...

Welcome to the live thread for the California Primary Election. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. If you are a registered voter, it is your duty to vote and defend your rights and civil liberties, protect your pocketbook, and vote the bums out where applicable. Feel free to discuss issues key to your local area that others may be interested in. Post your polling place experiences if you like. And post numbers as they come in later tonight.

The Brown campaign today released a TV ad exposing Poochigian's extreme, anti-environment record. Poochigian consistently sided with polluters and opposed tougher standards for air and water quality. Poochigian rejected sound science and opposed the historic, bipartisan agreement to reduce global warming. Recently, Poochigian went on record calling Governor Schwarzenegger's signature global warming initiative "Pollyannaish." Bill Magavern, senior representative for Sierra Club California said: "Republican Senator Charles Poochigian, has a record of siding with every polluting special interest that infests the Capitol. Over 2003-2005, Poochigian voted against all 25 of Sierra Club California’s most important bills. We simply can not afford...

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